overwhelmed with projects

Lately I've been feeling overwhelmed with the amount of projects going on here. Most, if not all, of the projects were self-created because of this need I have to be "working" while I am not working. But I'm not good with having this disheveled look all around me. I'm kind of anal about being organized and things having a proper home, although you wouldn't be able tell this by taking a peek into our house right now. This chaos makes me want to purge...The. Entire. House. To make it feel light and airy and clean and relaxing. Which in turn makes ME feel lighter and less stressed (I'm already "airy"- hahaha!!). Having less stuff and being organized allows me to accomplish so much more.


But purging itself is a project that I'll have to add to the bottom of our list of things that we are working on: the 2nd bathroom remodel (which is like 3 projects in one), landscaping (another 2 or 3 parter), jobhunting, Michael's summer therapies, and then the normal day-to-day stuff like housecleaning (bleck!). Shoot, I find myself busier now than when I was working...I think it's because I want to have all of these projects done before going back to work.


So in order to make a dent in these projects, I better get crack-a-lackin' and get back to it!!


And since a post isn't a post without a picture:



That's Michael "petting" Cally. She's such a great cat...she seems to understand Michael and tolerates a lot. He used to chase her around the house to try to sit on her.

teacher thank you gifts

Michael's last day of school was 2 weeks ago. Wow, summer break is really flying by!! Anyway, I wanted to do something special to thank his teacher and other important people in his school life. But because there are so many people that need to be thanked (it DOES take a village!!) I needed to be conscious of not breaking the bank at the same time. After talking with neighbors and friends to brainstorm ideas, I decided to give them a variety of homemade greeting cards. I put together 8 sets of 9 or so cards each and Michael gave them out on the last day of school. I think they turned out cute, and they were really fun to put together.We also snuck in a gc to Starbuck's for Michael's primary teacher (love her!). I would love to hear about your gift ideas...tell me all about it in the comments! :)

playing catch up

I have so, so much to blog about: our trip to Florida; Michael's bday; baseball; a trip to Cleveland (without the boy!!); more do-it-yourself home projects; Arty's surgery; my sister, brother-in-law and niece's visit; and a bunch of other stuff. We've just been so busy living and enjoying life, that there has been no time to write it all down. Sometimes I'm exhausted by it all, in a good way...because... "it's all good".

Hopefully, things will slow down a bit for me to catch up on all the projects and give me time to share it all with you. I know you can't live without these updates...have no fear, I had my camera with me for most of the events. Or maybe you should have fear because the camera's memory card is FULL - that's over 800 pictures (obviously, I don't shoot RAW)!! There will be lots of editing/deleting going on to whittle those down.

In the meantime, I'll be working on this:
Have I mentioned that I really don't enjoy folding and putting away laundry? Seriously embarrassing, but I'm just keepin' it real!

chicken spaghetti casserole

Want an easy and tasty meal for dinner? One that you can make ahead of time and/or freeze, if you want? Casseroles are great for just that and this one is pretty darn yummy (you might even be asked for a second helping!).

[ CHICKEN SPAGHETTI ]

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cooked chicken (I used 2-3 chicken breasts)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/8 cup finely diced green pepper

1/3 cup finely diced onion

1-4 oz jar diced pimentos, drained (I used maybe 1-2 oz, not big on pimentos here)

3 cups dry spaghetti, broken into two inch pieces
2 cups reserved chicken broth from pot you cooked chicken in

1 teaspoon seasoned salt (I used Tastefully Simple’s seasoned salt)

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste (I only peppered since we seasoned it earlier)

1 add’l cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

Cook chicken in pot of water; when done, shred chicken. Cook spaghetti using the leftover chicken broth until al dente. Do not overcook (it’ll be cooked again and you don’t want it to get too mushy). When the spaghetti is cooked (save that broth), combine with all of the ingredients, except the additional 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese. If the mixture seems too thick, add some of the leftover broth to the mix (I ended up adding around 1 to 1-1/2 cups of the broth).

Place mixture in casserole pan (9x13 and lightly sprayed w/Pam) and top with remaining sharp cheddar. Cover and freeze up to six months, cover and refrigerate up to two days, or bake immediately: 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes until bubbly (if the cheese on top starts to get too cooked, cover with foil).

This recipe is from pioneerwoman.com, but adapted for my family's tastes. :)

diggin' you diggin' me

The boy loves rocks.

He had been enjoying the neighbor's gravel pit so much that last weekend, on Mother's Day, we made Michael a gravel pit under part of his swingset.

Twelve bags of pea gravel and 2 bags of river rocks later....and we're done!

He could spend hours playing with his rocks. I foresee a lot of summer days in this pit. In addition to the sand and water...and probably lots of going back and forth between the three faves.

Michael was trying to pull Gary into the pit with him, but G is too tall. It was hard enough for G to sit under the slide...the boy likes us all to be close (loves to make us hug and kiss--funny!).

I'm sure he'll nominate us for parents of the year after this....at least until the next time he needs a 'time out', then all nominations will be null and void. But for right now, we're SUPERSTARS!!

cinco de mayo smothered enchiladas

Taking a look at all the past recipes I've posted on here, I noticed that we eat a lot of Mexican food. We're really big on flavors and seasonings here!

Need something quick, yet different? Why not try this very easy and filling meal? It's what we had tonight for Cinco de Mayo (just missing a little Sol).

[ SMOTHERED ENCHILADAS ]

2 lbs. ground beef
1 (1 ¼ oz) pkg mild taco seasoning
1 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chiles
2 (10 ¾ oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 (16 oz) sour cream
8 (8”) flour tortillas
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

GARNISHES
salsa
sour crean
green onion
chopped cilantro (I don’t use this because I don’t like it)

Brown ground beef in large skillet, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain. Stir in taco seasoning and half of green chiles, set aside.

Stir together remaining green chiles, soup and sour cream. Pour half of mixture into a lightly grease 13 x 9 baking dish. Spoon beef mixture even down centers of tortillas; sprinkle some cheese and roll up. Place seam side down over soup mixture in dish; top with remaining soup mixture and cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Serves 8...or 4 really hungry adults!


This was a yummy recipe from our neighbor (thanks Denise!). :)

digital class - gift idea

I recently completed Jessica Sprague's quick online video introductory to digital scrapbooking last weekend and here is the result (a tribute to my mom for Mother's Day):




I made this in hardly no time at all! Jessica gave excellent step-by-step instructions in her video and it was only 15 minutes long (if that!). I could start and stop and pause whenever I wanted too. The best part is that she is offering this video class for FREE at your own convenience! Good stuff! Why not try it out?? You can print your results on 8x8 paper and frame it. Great Mother's Day/Father's Day gift idea!